Heart of Joy
by Wild Hope
Summary: A short scene I wrote a few years ago in which Bianca finds out that Miranda is really her baby and not Bess Chandler.


"Bianca, Bess is Miranda, she's your baby, Miranda is _alive_."

Bianca stood there staring at David wondering if she was hallucinating, if she had just heard him announce in front of everyone that Bess was Miranda - her precious Miranda - it couldn't be true. It just wasn't possible. Not after all of these months of grief and the sadness that had enveloped her being. It was impossible that all of that had been for nothing. That she could have been spared, that her baby was really alive. Her mouth went dry and she could hear her heart beating. It wasn't true and if she began to believe it she would feel the grief all over again and she couldn't go through that again. She didn't want to break all over again.

"David, what are you talking about? Bess is Babe and JR's, my baby, Miranda..." she savored the name and dreaded the words that followed, "Miranda is dead." She hated those words, each time she said them she thought that it would get easier but in reality it just ate at her heart piece by piece. It was a reminder that she was never going to get to hold her daughter, never sing to her until she fell asleep, never watch her grow up and get married, start a family. She wondered why David was doing this, why he was putting her through pain like this when he knew exactly how it felt to go through the same excruciating pain. How dare he? She thought they were friends. He thought he cared about her and he was putting her through all of this for what? For a hope that wasn't there.

"David, don't do this, how can you do this to your own daughter!" shrieked Krystal as she grabbed David by the arm but he shrugged her away.

"It's all ready done Krystal, I have the DNA test right here, this is proof, proof that Miranda didn't die in that plane crash," he turned to Bianca, "proof that your daughter is alive and well." He held out a piece of paper, his eyes begging her to take it.

Bianca looked around and confusion, this had to be some monumental mistake, this couldn't be happening. She was losing her mind because there could be no way, no way that the daughter she had grieved for was alive and well. She had wished for this with every part of her soul, she had spent endless nights crying herself to sleep and wishing that she could spend just one more minute with her baby. That she would wake up and Miranda would be miraculously in her arms. Alive and safe. If this was true. Her heart started beating so fast that she could barely stand it. She reached for the paper that David held with trembling hands not daring to let herself believe it, not willing to have everything snatched away from her all over again. She couldn't take that pain, it felt like she had lost Miranda so many times that one more would be too hard. She looked over the piece of paper and her hand covered her mouth in shock, as she read it to herself. _Sample number one, Bianca Montgomery, is a 99.9 match to sample number two, Elizabeth Chandler, sample number three, Arabelle Chandler is a 0 match to sample number two, Elizabeth Chandler._

Tears slid down her cheeks and she read it over and over again, branding the words into her mind, wondering if somehow the words would change and her heart would break all over again. Her stomach was twisted into knots and her heart was pounding in her ears, her baby, her Miranda was alive.

She turned to David, "This – this is real, there's no chance it's a mistake?" she asked desperately, her voice breaking. She was still trying so hard to hold back, if she let herself truly believe this it would shatter her if it wasn't true, this had to be true, she wanted it to be true with every fiber of her being. She was wishing so hard that this wasn't all a dream that she would wake up from that she thought she might faint.

"There's no chance the results were tampered with, they were sent to a private lab and checked twice, I promise you Bianca, it's real," he said smiling and putting his hand on her shoulder. "It's real," he repeated.

Her baby, her sweet Miranda was alive, she needed to see her, to touch her, to know that this wasn't a dream. She turned around ready to run up the stairs to the nursery and see her baby when she suddenly noticed that Babe was standing there, tears streaming down her face. She wasn't denying anything, she was silent and when Bianca's eyes met hers she looked away.

"You knew," said Bianca softly as a multitude of emotions ran through her, she was feeling so many things, hope, happiness, joy, but it was suddenly tinged with anger at the realization that she had been purposely kept from her daughter, forced to miss precious moments that she would never be able to get back. Bianca had spent months believing that she would never be whole again. That there would always be a missing piece that she could never fill with anyone or anything.

"You knew Bess was mine and you didn't tell me?" she wanted to be wrong, she wanted Babe to tell her that she didn't know but it all started to make sense, to fall into place. Why Babe had been so set on her being a part of 'Bess'' life, how uneasy she was when Bianca was holding the baby, all of the things that she had said at the wedding. All of those little moments were coming back in a flood that only meant betrayal.

"How could you!? How could you keep her from me, I mourned for her every day... and you let me believe that I was crazy for thinking that she was mine, that I was selfish for wanting to be near her, how could you do that to me, how could you hurt me, hurt _Bess_, like that?" asked Bianca wondering how someone she had considered a friend had betrayed her in the worst, most brutal way possible. She had stuck up for Babe time and time again, and she had kept her from knowing her child. She almost felt like she had been raped all over again, but this was much worse. But it didn't matter because her perfect baby girl waited at the end and as long as she had Miranda everything would be okay, she would be okay.

"Bianca, I'm sorry let me explain-" pleaded Babe tearfully.

"I want to see her, I want to see _Miranda_ now." She walked away and made her way up the stairs and when she finally got to the nursery she had to stop and take a deep breath, Miranda, her Miranda, was in there. She opened the door and then shutand locked it behind her, she didn't want anyone ruining this moment for her. There were already so many missed moments.

She walked over to the crib and Miranda was laying there, her eyes wide open and curiously looking around at the world around her. When she saw Bianca she suddenly stopped and then broke into a smile. Bianca wondered how she could have believed for one instant that this baby wasn't hers. All she had to do was look at that smile and she saw her whole world encompassed in it. This was her baby, this was her world.

"Hi, sweetheart, it's Mommy," as she said the words tears began to pour out of her eyes, she hadn't thought that she would ever say those words again. She reached into the crib and picked up Miranda and held her close.

"I'm so sorry, I should have fought harder for you, I knew, deep down, I knew that you mine. When I heard you crying something inside of me called out to you, but I let you go. I should have fought harder for you, but I'm here now and you're in my arms, and you are so perfect," she whispered, lightly brushing her cheek.

"I love you so much Miranda. My Miranda." She relished saying the words as she held her baby, her miracle, her soul, her heart, in her arms. Miranda closed her eyes and Bianca couldn't believe that this was all happening. Ten minutes ago she had believed that her baby was dead and now she had the missing part of her heart back and she felt so much joy welling up inside her. This was truly the beginning of the rest of her life, she had her baby back and that was all that mattered, this was all she had ever wanted, to feel complete.


End file.
